The Art of Overthinking by Ellen Zheng
Release Date: August 5, 2025
I received an ARC from Rowan Prose Publishing, but the opinions are my own and unbiased.
The Art of Overthinking by Ellen Zheng is a YA Novel that deals with mental health and finding your place in the world. The main character, Isla Wu, is a sixteen-year-old high school Junior who has a lot of pressure placed on her by her parents to succeed. She doesn’t feel like she really fits in with her friend group, and she is spiralling.
Amidst all this internal turmoil, she meets a super cute new boy, Slater. He’s immediately welcomed into the popular crowd and yet, he is really interested in Isla. As they get closer, things with Isla start coming to a head. And what comes next is probably some of the most real writing about being a teenager in this day and age that I’ve read in a long time.
The Art of Overthinking is probably one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. Being inside Isla’s head felt super relatable and incredibly real. I couldn’t put this book down. I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened next with Isla. The relationship between Isla and Slater felt so real. It had all the awkwardness of first love and all that came with it, and I just wanted everything to work out for them.
The first generation American, child of immigrants aspect was so well done. And there are parts in the book, I won’t spoil them, where Isla found her voice, and I audibly cheered for her. The book deals with racism very well and very realistically.
Most of all, I applaud the author for how she dealt with the mental health of teenagers, and mental health in general. The message she sends is loud, it’s clear, and I love that she includes tools so that if a teen is reading this book and recognizes themselves in the characters, they can have an idea on how to start working on themselves.
I highly recommend that you read this book. You really won’t regret it.
Stephanie Caffrey, Author 